The ever-popular defender has decided the time is right to retire at the age of 37, ending a career that fulfilled all of the potential he first showed when emerging from the club's Academy and impressing that hard taskmaster Roy Keane to the extent that the Irishman twice took him to Sunderland on loan.
When he returned to Old Trafford armed with Premier League experience, he would go on to win the competition three times with his boyhood club, living the dream, and being part of the squad that conquered the Champions League in 2008.
Only the FA Cup eluded him in that first spell, so he not only went on to lift it with Leicester City but then also with United, coming on as a substitute in the 2024 final triumph over Manchester City to help keep the Blues at bay.